Free, as part of the Ian McGlynn collection "A Map To Get Away" only at Noisetrade.
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It is, to me, an inescapable fact that music wears the tint of whatever is going on in your life when you first encounter it. So it is perhaps unfortunate that this beautiful rendition of "Winter Was Warm" by fingerstyle guitarist John Dollman arrived in my in-box just as Missy Katz is dying. Or perhaps it was meant to be that way, as it immediately cut to my heart.
I have spent weeks taking Missy Katz to and from the vets, but she just continues to wither away and, at this point, I doubt she'll last the week (if, indeed, she makes it through the day). In this context, this gentle acoustic version of a song from the soundtrack of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol hits me with a bittersweet blend of nostalgia and regret. And that's kinda what I've always said the best Christmas music does.
I don't know John Dollman, though I do recognize him as a long-time denizen of the forums at The Fa. He's clearly a talented guitarist. I understand that he has made several CDs of his solo guitar interpretations of Christmas music for family and friends and he informs me that some of this music will soon be available through CD Baby. You can currently hear several selections on John's Soundcloud page (as well as some non-holiday music). I hope he'll link from there to CD Baby when his music becomes available for purchase.
But John has made this beautiful version of "Winter Was Warm" available as a free download for the readers of Stubby's (and anyone else who stumbles across it). For me, the song will now forever be entwined with the memories of Missy Katz, a good girl and faithful companion who, no matter how weak she got, always climbed up to sleep on my chest at night, purring loud enough to wake the neighbors. "Winter Was Warm" will complete the soundtrack of her life, which began with "Ooh Child" when she first arrived in our home small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. Given my age and my own health, she is likely the last such companion I will ever know. John, I'm sorry this piece is more about Missy Katz and less about you. You deserve better. Hopefully, others will find that out for themselves.
Sunday is Mother's Day. Just thought you should know. My Mom is gone and the world hasn't been nearly as bright since. Presumptuous of me as it might be, I'm going to say this about that. If your Mom is still alive, you don't have to give her flowers or chocolates or even a card, really. Just tell her you love her...preferably in person but on the phone at least (no, a text message is not sufficient). That's all she wants.
As we mark other occasions around here, we have some tunes for Mother's Day. And, because it's a very Stubby's thing to do, we'll start you off with a free download.
One last song. Probably not one you'd play for your mother. But a very affecting song to remind us all that mothers are not perfect. Sometimes they have their own struggles which we don't understand until we're much older. Not true of my mother, of course; she was perfect ;^). But, if not, be forgiving. She did or is doing her best. And, without her, you wouldn't be here.
Time for a little catch-up on some holiday-themed records in the works for 2019. And, as is our wont here at Stubby's, we're starting off with the artist you're probably least familiar with.
Brynn Stanley is an up and coming New Jersey born Jazz and Pop singer. She's been described as "the Peggy Lee of her generation" and also drawn comparisons to Norah Jones and Diana Krall. Brynn first emerged in 2013, after heading out to California to better learn her trade. In 2015, Stanley released her debut album, "Hello California". Largely a Pop exercise, "Hello California" only hinted at Brynn's potential as a Jazz vocalist. Turns out I can be a bit of a snob. Found myself tremendously unmoved by the Popish "You're The One". The smokey soulful Jazz of "Black & White", though, was exactly what the doctor ordered. YMMV, of course. Performing on both coasts, Brynn has since moved more and more towards the music she's most passionate about...the music of The Great American Songbook. The Brynn Stanley of 2017's "Classic" (which you can check out on Soundcloud) is the Brynn Stanley I'm hoping to encounter when she releases her first Christmas album, currently in the works. It should be no surprise that Brynn would choose a Christmas album for her next project. You'll find several videos of the young chanteuse celebrating the holidays on YouTube. She'll, again, be working with The Tony Guerrero Quintet (heard on the video above) on the coming holiday set. Working title for the album is "Christmas". Brynn's only currently available Christmas release is the 2015 pop single "Selfie With Santa".
If it's April, that means that Kate Rusby is back in the studio working on a new Christmas album. The British Folk singer reports that it's difficult to get into a Christmas mindset out of season, but she's quite used to it having already released FOUR Yuletide long-plays.
Kate's first Christmas album, 2008's "Sweet Bells", remains a popular holiday classic. She followed that with "While Mortals Sleep" in 2011, "The Frost Is All Over" in 2015, and "Angels And Men" in 2017. While we await more seasonal sweetness from this favored Folk songbird, Kate's latest non-Christmas album--"Philosophers, Poets And Kings"--releases in a couple of weeks. The lead single, "Jenny", is a tune in which underdogs of all kinds should find hope and inspiration.
Speaking of Folk music, there are few Folk groups who got their start in the early 60s still around today. And The Seekers may be the only one of that select group featuring, essentially, the original line-up. Technically, the Australian group began with Ken Ray holding down the spot now occupied by Judith Durham. But it was only after Durham joined early in 1962 that The Seekers found their sound, scoring international hits with "I'll Never Find Another You", "A World Of Our Own" and "Georgy Girl".
The Seekers split up in 1968, reunited in 1975, then went through some personnel changes. The original Seekers reunited again in 1992 and have been together ever since. Outside of a stray track or two, The Seekers didn't get serious about the holiday season until 2001, when they released "Morningtown Ride To Christmas"(currently OOP). As a solo artist, Judith Durham has released plenty of delicious holiday slices and has frequently appeared on the annual "Spirit of Christmas" collections put out down under by Myer Stores and The Salvation Army. The Seekers recently signed with Decca, who will release what is anticipated to be their final "new" album, "Farewell", in mid-May (mid-June in America). It's a live set recorded in 2013. But, for us, the big news is that a Christmas album is in the works, expected to feature rare and unreleased material from the group's long career.
If you're visiting Stubby's in April, then you no doubt already know that The Backstreet Boys plan to release their first Christmas album later this year. The 90s Boy Band kicks off their DNA World Tour in Portugal on May 11, wrapping up in New Jersey in September. Along the way, they'll be working on their festive full-length which, we're promised, will include "some classics and some originals".
To date, The Backstreet Boys have released just two Christmas tunes, the 1996 ballad "It's Christmas" and the uptempo "It's Christmas Time Again" from 2012. Try to work on those song titles, boys. It'd be a bit disappointing to see a full album with titles like "It's Christmas Time Again (Again)" and "I Told You It Was Christmas". Just sayin'. 98 Degrees got some mileage out of their recent Christmas record, N Sync saw their holiday album re-released this past year, and The Spice Girls are re-uniting. So the timing is probably spot on for a bit of mistletoe and merriment from BSB. They're back. Alright?
This next bit really doesn't belong in this rundown, as it's not technically a Christmas album and it's not upcoming...it's here. Released earlier this month, Nico Cartosio's "Melting" is one of the most affecting records I've heard in a long time. We don't often talk about Classical music, here, but, if you're adventurous, a Classical track in your holiday mix can really set you apart.
"Melting" is largely a very dark work, rising up in hope at the very end. From the outset, "Melting" plunges you into a cold dark place and then drags you further down into hell. Only when you reach the title track are you raised from perdition, your soul set free from the darkness. Not technically a seasonal album, Cartosio does use winter titles and themes to express the harshness of the cold and dark. "Snow Above The Earth" and "Girl On An Iceberg" are two such examples. But, really, I just wanted an excuse to play the video for the album's opening track, "Christmas On The Moon", in case you haven't seen it. Because nothing says Christmas like little girls, teddy bears, strip clubs, drugs, and semi-automatic weapons. STRONG PARENTAL ADVISORY: for extreme violence and the appearance of the foulest of 4-letter words (the "C" word) near the beginning (it's in the video, not the song which is instrumental).
Lightning Round.
Further confirmation that you can count on Dolly Parton and The Smashing Pumpkins for Christmas albums this year--separately, of course, not in tandem. Australian-American Christian Pop Rock duo for King and Country is also said to be tossing around the idea of more Christmas music. Their 2013 EP "Into The Silent Night" remains a popular player and the group released "Christmas: Live From The Phoenix" in 2017. It might wait until 2020, but there will definitely be more. Shania Twain is also hard at work on a holiday set. There's been some talk that the Canadian Country star's record will be all original, but I'm not buying it. If Shania doesn't sing "White Christmas", then what's the point? Just my opinion, of course. Look for a New Age solo piano Christmas record from Faith Angelina Dixon this coming November. The 13 year old prodigy's latest, "Notes From Zion", debuted at #1 on the One World Music charts in January. A talented and passionate composer, have Faith (see what I did there?) that she will not be offering up some snooze fest of tried and tired standards. And, while we're awaiting official confirmation, word on the street has it that Keb Mo is currently in the studio laying down a new Christmas album. Being a Blues Hound, that's pretty exciting news to me. That's just a rumor (if a fairly solid one), at the moment. Fingers crossed... Keb Mo's Christmas output, so far, can be found on his 2011 EP, "The Spirit of The Holiday".
And then there's Liz...
Finally, today, Robbie Williams got his start with the British Pop band Take That in the 90s but became a bankable artist when he went solo. 7 number one singles and 10 number one albums later, Williams is among the best selling and richest solo acts in British history. Oddly, he's barely registered on this side of the Atlantic, charting only two singles on the Top 100, "Angels" and "Millennium", with the former charting the highest at just #53. I imagine that's got to annoy the heck out of him, in spite of his success across the pond.
Williams has always seemed kinda Christmas adjacent (for example, he sang on the Band Aid 20 version of "Do They Know It's Christmas?" and the video for his retro duet with Nicole Kidman has a Christmas theme). But his only "official" holiday release to date has been "Walk This Sleigh", the festive flip to "Angels" in 1997. "Walk This Sleigh" has frequently been described as one of the worst Christmas songs of all time, but I've always rather liked it. Why? Because it's different, and you know how much I love different. Robbie is currently working on a full Christmas album which I expect we'll see at the end of this year. He's got a musical fetish for Rat Pack styled Jazz Pop, so I'd expect to hear some of that on the completed project. But Robbie knows how to write an infectious Pop song as well as anyone, so I'd think we'll also get a lot of that. And.......here's a possible preview to close us out. Enjoy. It seems odd to be writing about a group called Silent Winters after just transitioning to spring, but here we are. The Canadian Folk duo of Olenka Bastian and Jonathan Chandler began as a side project in 2017, when the pair were members of the Ottawa Indie group Amos The Transparent. The name is meant to reflect the silence one experiences after a heavy snowfall, when the blanket of snow seems to absorb all sound. Their music follows in the tradition of Folk duos like Simon & Garfunkel and The Civil Wars. Silent Winters have two albums under their belts, an album of ethereal lullabies, "Fireworks & A Small Brigade", and the recently released collection of songs derived from the history of the immigrant Canadian community of LeBreton Flats, "The Duke Hotel". For their third album, Silent Winters is working on something befitting of their name...a Christmas album. Silent Winters dipped their toe in the Christmas snow this past December with a cover of "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas", which is available as a free download on their web site. The Oak Ridge Boys plan to release a new Christmas album before 2019 is out. It would be their eighth and their first since 2016's "Celebrate Christmas". The announcement came as the Grammy winning Country Hall of Fame group renewed their partnership with super-producer Dave Cobb who produced the hugely successful 2009 release "The Boys Are Back". The Christmas album will be followed by a Cobb produced album of classics and standards in 2020. The Oak Ridge Boys were originally formed in 1947 as a Gospel quartet. They switched fully over to Country music in the 70s and enjoyed their greatest chart success in the 80s. The current line-up of The Oak Ridge Boys is the same one that gave the group their highest charting crossover single, "Elvira", in 1981. So...look, I know I've been saying this every year for the last six or seven, but, in all likelihood, Stubby's will not be back for the 2019 Christmas season. Lots of reasons for that but, at the core, I just don't want to do it anymore. I want to lay back and enjoy the season in the ways I used to (the nice thing about searching for Christmas music without a blog is that you can stop when you're burned out). I will likely be posting more at Imwan and The Fa than I have since Stubby's came along, so I'm not vanishing from the face of the earth. And our Festive Friends, to the right, will keep you informed (as they always do). The Stubby's domain expires in October. I may or may not renew. There's an actual url for this thing somewhere which, hopefully, I can locate and post for you so that the site won't just disappear. And, because there's no pressure in the offseason, I may post, now and then, between now and October (though I really have a lot of stuff I need to be doing). So, anyway, the latest news is a planned Christmas album from Lennie Gallant. The Canadian Country singer had one of my favorite singles from 2018, "Christmas Day On Planet Earth". He expects at least half the album to be original material, with "a couple of interpretations" completing the set. And, apparently, Billy Corgan is actually hard at work on that threatened...er...promised Smashing Pumpkins Christmas album. He expects it to be released later this year. The Smashing Pumpkins, you'll recall, dipped their toes in the cool Christmas waters with "Christmastime" in 1997 (video up top). Our full 2019 list of Coming Attractions (so far) below the video. Cher (nuff said) Faithful Journey (Southern Gospel quartet from the MidWest) Lennie Gallant (Canadian Country star who had one of the best Christmas singles of 2018) The Monkees--"Christmas Party" (Vinyl version of 2018 holiday CD) The New West Symphony & Chorus (70 member choir and orchestra) Dolly Parton (Country superstar says this is definite and will be accompanied by a Christmas tour) Jim Reeves--"Twelve Songs of Christmas" (RealGone has been unable to obtain the rights to this 1963 classic from Sony, but they'll keep trying) Smashing Pumpkins (Billy seems pretty stoked by the idea) Sovereign Grace (Worship group planning 3rd Christmas album) Various--"Seasonal Favorites, Vol. 5" (Yet another indispensable collection of Surf Rock, etc., from Double Crown)
Miss me?
If you've followed Stubby's for a long time, you know that I have a particular fondness for Martin Luther King Day and have made an effort to collect music appropriate for same. I mean I've got a crapload of Christmas music and Halloween music. So then what? Nearly every song's a love song, so Valentines Day is too easy. Easter music sucks. Thanksgiving is about food and football. What am I gonna do? Arbor Day? Martin Luther King Day is January 21, this year. The holiday appeals to me because Martin wasn't a king or a president or a general (or a savior or a saint or a Coca Cola icon...no offense, Santa). Martin was just a guy. A man with a cause. A man of peace, ostensibly. And I know some have differing opinions about Martin Luther King, Jr., but some have differing opinions about Christmas, too. Much like Christmas music, music appropriate for Martin Luther King Day covers a large swath in many genres. There are the well known tunes, like "Abraham, Martin and John", and all kinds of more interesting music, if you dig a little deeper. Anyway, it's always been on my bucket list to do an MLK mix and I finally did one. "Music For Martin" was originally intended to be a two disc set. The first disc came together quite easily. I've so far struggled with the second. I've got a lot of great Blues I want to use, but many of those tracks were recorded upon his death and it got to be a bit of a downer. Have to work on that. That's not to say Volume 1 is a frivolous party soundtrack. It's got some depth to it, but it's got some balance as well--hope mixed with struggle. I like the way it came out. Your mileage may vary. So, anyway, "Music For Martin, Volume 1" is up on Mixcloud. First time I've ever messed with Mixcloud. Or you can just listen to it here. Track list below the player. Time cues are approximate. All of the tracks should be available for purchase or download somewhere. The only one you might have trouble locating without a link is "MLK Knock @ Midnight" by kymone, which is a free download on Soundcloud.
00:00 Symphony of Brotherhood - Miri Ben-Ari (2006)
04:38 Abraham, Martin and John - Dion (1968) 07:48 Next Stop, MLK - Jaspects (2006) 13:52 (I Have) A Dream - Common & Will I Am (2007) 17:27 The Alabama Bus - Brother Will Hairston (1956) 21:52 The Jail House King - Bob Starr (1963) 23:48 Keep On Pushing - The Impressions (1964) 26:34 A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke (1964) 29:42 Back To Birmingham - Dry September (2008) 35:09 The Ballad of Birmingham - Jerry Moore (1967) 39:18 MLK Knock @ Midnight - kymone (2018) 47:05 March On, March On - Oliver Nelson (1960) 51:46 Civil Rights (MLK) - Natty Nation (2012) 55:24 Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield (1971) 58:55 Night Train To Memphis - Bobby Hebb (1960) 1:00:43 Memphis City Blues - 8 Ball & MJG (2005) 1:05:07 Final Speech (excerpt) - Martin Luther King, Jr. (1968) 1:09:01 Motel In Memphis - Old Crow Medicine Show (2008) 1:13:19 Up To The Mountain - Patty Griffin (2007) Just a quick reminder that you've got a week left to get "A Stubby's House Christmas 2018" before it melts away forever. And it does contain a pair of great New Year's tracks...Sofia Talvik's "Poem At Year's End" and Emma Rowley's rendition of the classic "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?". Now on to some songs for New Year's.
Everything else in this post will be new (or newly discovered) and free, but we open with a nice bit of Funk that you may have missed which is neither. Recorded for the Sounds of Memphis label by Kannon somewhere between 1975 and 1985, "New Lang Syne" was unreleased until 2015, when this collection, "Groove With A Feeling" came out. If you want your New Year to be funky, this one's a good start. You can find it on Amazon.
One song available for free download that I didn't get to before Christmas (and even forgot to include in our Boxing Day post) is "Leaving The Party" from the Synth Folk group from Glasgow, The Paperback Throne. But, you know, it almost feels more appropriate for New Years. We remember The Paperback Throne from their lovely 2015 Christmas set "All Best Intentions" (which, by the way, includes the track "Resolution"). "No Mean Christmas" is still one of the best tracks I've heard since opening shop at Stubby's; if I ever did a "Best of", that would be on it. So it's good to see The Paperback Throne back in the seasonal music game. "Leaving The Party" is name-you-price at Bandcamp.
Every year since 2007, DJ Earworm (Jordan Roseman) has condensed the most popular music of the year into one bright and glorious Mash-Up. This year's mix is "Turnin' It Up" and features Ariana Grande, Drake, Cardi B., Post Malone, Maroon 5, Halsey and a whole bunch more. To tell you the truth, the Mash-up, itself, is pretty amazing, but I can't imagine the skills necessary to Mash-up a video of the same. Cool stuff, as always. And you'll find a free download at Soundcloud.
Speaking of Mashups, I went looking for some good new New Year's Mashups and didn't really find any. But I did find this one, which more than works, "I Love Celebrations" produced by Don Hector and included on the latest "Best of Bootie" collection. You can get this one at Soundcloud or Sowndhaus, or just download the entire "Best of Bootie" collection (assuming you don't mind non-holiday Mashups, and why would you?).
Christmas A Go Go found some of this year's best free New Year's songs, including The Greyhound Factory's "New Year's Eve" and this Sugarbabes' cover of "New Year" from Darling Buds, which is only available until January 2 at Bandcamp.
Gotta have at least one Folk tune included, even if Tim Marrison's "New Year" is a bit Emo for my taste. Marrison recalls that the song reflects a New Year's Eve where, rather than going out to celebrate, he elected to stay home and get drunk. "A lot of good songs come out of being morbidly drunk," Tim says. "The trick is to remember them in the morning!" "New Year" by Tim Morrison is free at Soundcloud.
New York Punk band Cash Registers found the proper New Year's spirit in 2016, but I can't recall having heard "60 Seconds to Midnight" before now. It's true. We make a big deal out of New Year's, in spite of the fact that most of us don't really give a crap. Meet the New Year, same as the old year. "60 seconds to Midnight. No one even cares. Goodbye old New Year." Name-your-price at Bandcamp.
And, now, back where we started...with assorted versions of "Auld Lang Syne".
Katherine Etzel is best known as a member of the Americana group Bobtown, but when she does something solo, she goes by The Existential Bell. There are no instruments on this version of "Auld Lang Syne"--every sound you hear is being made by Katherine's voice. The result is a very Ambient, somewhat Dream Pop version of the song which seems to carry with it much of the sadness of the year gone by (or maybe that's just me). It's free at Soundcloud.
How 'bout a Jazz version, this one from Wisconsin's Reegan Van Camp. It's just one song on a "name your price" EP of "Holiday Sketches" at Bandcamp.
Here's an excellent instrumental version of "Auld Lang Syne" from members of the Minnesota Indie Rock band Breakthrough, led by brothers PJ & Drew Medin. It starts with a single guitar before breaking into a Rock anthem that's somewhere between TSO and Boston (excellent guitar work on this). Also free from Soundcloud.
The Australian group Paisley Sky take the old song even further, going all Jimi Hendrix on "Auld Lang Psych". Also free on Soundcloud.
Of course, you might prefer your "Auld Lang Syne" more traditional. And it doesn't get more traditional than bagpipes. Jimmy Armstrong's cover starts with the bagpipes, then switches over to a full orchestral arrangement (with a few words from Jimmy) before closing with the bagpipes again. Quite dramatic and quite affecting...and free for the download at Soundcloud. Happy New Year, everybody.
There were so many albums I really wanted to get to, this year...to properly review or at least feature. The old computer dying when it did threw a bit of a wrench into the works, but I was pretty much behind all season anyway. And it's not that I think anyone out there relies solely on Stubby's to learn of new Christmas releases (if you do, you shouldn't), but a voice of recommendation from any corner is a good thing. So you've got 11 months, now, to prepare next year's playlist. Here are a few releases from 2018 that I really liked (but didn't get to feature) for you to check out and consider.
We at Stubby's first encountered Amber Norgaard through her contribution to "Christmas From The Heart" in 2016. I was really impressed with "Light To The World" and the way it took the story of Joseph and Mary and Jesus and sort of superimposed it over the eternal and universal experience of women giving birth more generally. Song aside, Amber has one of those voices that, though soft and ever so slightly smokey, just cuts through all the clutter and instantly reaches your heart and soul.
At the urging of her mother, Amber recorded an entire Christmas album this year, "Be The Peace", which (though released in November) I didn't catch up to until right around the time my computer died. I think I largely expected a fairly AC/CCM Folk experience, though I figured it would be a good one. And the opening track, "Love Came Down At Christmas", beautifully arranged and performed with exquisite choices of instruments, was about what I was expecting. And then came the Blues guitar opening for the thoroughly Gospel "I Pray on Christmas". Hey now! Amber, as it turns out, sprinkles surprises like that throughout "Be The Peace". She brings together a multitude of sounds--Folk, Rock, Jazz, Blues, New Age, Pop--and the instrumentation is impeccable throughout (much as I'm a sucker for cello, I especially enjoyed the texture the Sax brought to the proceedings). There's even a Spanish language spin on "I'll Be Home For Christmas". Before she became "Tucson's Folk-Rock Goddess", Amber Norgaard was a nurse. And there's undeniably a healing quality to her music, which makes for fine listening on both spiritual and secular levels. In her hands, even "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" is strangely uplifting. Personal favorites on "Be The Peace" include the title track, "I Pray on Christmas", "O Come O Come Emmanuel", "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "Light To The World". Amber, by the way, has a dog named Macauley. Well, nobody's perfect, right Missy Katz?
We've had our share of Monkey business this year. But there's no monkey like a Green Monkey. The thing about the annual Green Monkey Christmas comp is that there's no need to sample. You know, without hearing a single note, that it's going to be one of the finest Rock/Alt Rock Christmas records of any year. And, sure enough, the very second I saw that "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" was out, I laid my money down without hearing a note. Every year, I listen to these Green Monkey comps, telling myself, well, there's bound to be a track or two I could live without. And there never is. Every bit of every one is pure gold. (Well, OK, the joke of Jeff Kelly's "Christmas At The End of Time" has been done before, and once was more than enough).
Every October, Tom Dyer puts out the call for the Christmas album, artists new and old answer, and Tom tosses in a few contributions of his own. The result is always a wide variety of sounds that, together, create a cohesive and rocking' collection. And 100% of the proceeds go to MusiCares. Highlights on "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" include Super Z Attack Tram's Progressive "We 3 Super Kings", Kaz Murphy's vaguely 50s lament "Christmas Was Yesterday" (can't help but imagining Gene Pitney singing that one), the Ramones friendly "All I Want For Christmas (Is To Be Left Alone)" by The Swaggerlies, Duane Hibbard's "Blame It On The Nog" (which is sort of Alice Cooper meets The Cramps), Emily Bishton's straight forward "Toyland", and the Bluesy single from the set, Tom Dyer & The True Olympians' "(I'm A) Lonely Little Christmas Tree". Sample or don't sample, just buy "A Green Monkey Christmas For Martians Up On Mars" and you will not regret it. Parental Advisory on "Happy New Year" by Kline's 57. Green Monkey issued another Christmas release this year, "Tom and Kat's Excellent Christmas Adventure", which collects up some of the best of Tom and (daughter) Kat Dyer's Christmas tunes (including last year's delicious "Fruitcake"), but I haven't really had a chance to listen to that album, yet. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my very favorite tune on this year's Green Monkey comp (I'm sure they wrote it with me in mind)--the Psych Pop "Gray Whiskers (Winter Cats)" by Donovan's Brain. Missy Katz has that one on constant repeat.
I can't tell you how much I've been wanting to do a proper review of "A Christmas Album" by The Purple Hulls. As a Bubblegum child, Bluegrass has always been a tough fit for me. But the Bluegrass I like, I really like. I can't explain it, but it's like I only connect to Bluegrass that's got "soul" (not the R&B kind of soul, but that feeling that says "this isn't music we make; this music is who we are"). And I really like The Purple Hulls. They've got that extra something, that "soul".
I've yet to find the time to truly give "A Christmas Album" a fair listening. I've heard all the tracks, but a few here and a few there, and that's not how I like to do when I review an album. What I can tell you straight off is that I'm selling them short by even referring to them as a Bluegrass band. There are really only a few tracks that are purely Bluegrass. The wider-lens Americana covers it better. The Purple Hulls are identical twin sisters Penny and Katy Clark of Kilgore, Texas. Needless to say, those harmonies are tight and these young ladies know their way around string instruments. For a few years, now, the sisters Clark would post a Christmas song to YouTube and those were so incredible that demand for a Purple Hulls Christmas album was growing rapidly. "A Christmas Album" is fairly gorgeous throughout, covering standards from "Let It Snow" to "O Come All Ye Faithful" to originals like "Can't Stop Christmas From Comin'" and "That's Christmas To Me". Hard to pick out personal favorites since it's all so good, but, in addition to the songs already mentioned, I'd add "Labor of Love". But you also shouldn't miss their sweet take on "White Christmas" or their rousing version of "Auld Lang Syne". I can not recommend "A Christmas Album" highly enough. I think that, once you've had a taste of The Purple Hulls, you're going to want their entire catalog. And that still won't be enough. They're that good. And, kids, there's even "A Christmas Album" vinyl (exclusively available from The Purple Hulls and not due out until early January). It's very very limited, so I wouldn't wait another second if vinyl is what you crave.
"Did we lose the sun". That's just one of the lines that let's you know "Stay Warm" by The O'Pears is not a Christmas album of twinkle lights and tinsel. To be fair, I haven't had the time to more than sample this album (and, to be fair to me, it wasn't released until December 17), but it was one on my list (and I checked it twice) and what I've heard so far gives me to know I was very very right to put it on my Nice list.
The O'Pears are a Canadian Folk trio of singer-songwriters. And, clearly, nothing makes me weaker in the knees than perfect female harmony vocals. I gotta say, I'm especially enchanted when two of the women harmonize and the third breaks off and sings something in an entirely different direction, like a leaf floating off the tree and blowing in the wind. Just sayin'. "Stay Warm" presents a picture of the Winter season in all its complexity...the joy and love and the dark and cold. Remarkably, it manages to explore the dark and cold aspects with warmth and light, for the most part. "Did we lose the sun", as example, is from "Find The Sun", which isn't about Winter at all, but a relationship in which the flame seems to have gone out. "Did we even try before we let it go." But even that song ends with hope as the singer vows to "Find The Sun" rather than let love die. "Hearts Grow Fonder" is as complex as the season itself, weaving loss and nostalgia, the warmth of family and the cold of the season, into one tidy "toast" that is, taken all together, a positive mix. Perhaps the sweetest song, here, is "Jingle Jangle".
I like it when you sing me carols
I like it when you trim the tree But I like best when you jingle jangle jingle jangle for me
Most of the other songs, however, have both a little light and a little dark to them. The O'Pears scatter a few "minute carols" through the set, but, aside from Joni Mitchell's "River", the full songs are all written by the women of The O'Pears. And their songwriting is as amazingly perfect as their harmonies.
One of the most interesting things about "Stay Warm" is that The O'Pears did not include their 2017 Christmas single "Quiet Now" (nor 2016's "Long Winter"). That at least suggests that we'll be hearing more seasonal suites from The O'Pears, and that makes me very happy. While I haven't listened to it all, yet, I'd already count "Stay Warm", "Ring The Bells" and "Lady Winter" as favorites. And, really, this album should have as much appeal to lovers of Indie Pop and Dream Pop as to those who love Americana, a cappella, Folk and Folk Pop. It's just really beautiful stuff.
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